


Patience

by Sinistretoile



Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Dark, Dark!Steve Rogers - Freeform, F/M, Minor Violence, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:49:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27188200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinistretoile/pseuds/Sinistretoile
Summary: She doesn't think she's good enough for America's iconic hero. He thinks otherwise. The man who's notorious for waiting too long has plenty of patience until she realizes she's wrong.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Original Character(s), Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 88





	Patience

**Author's Note:**

> My late submission into Darkficsyouneveraskedfor's What's Old is New 10K follower challenge. My Prompt was 'A gentleman is a patient wolf.' -Lana Turner.

Steve Rogers watched her from afar. She wasn’t exceptionally beautiful. On the contrary, she was pretty but fairly unremarkable. She worked in what was essentially the mail room. She politely delivered his reports and briefings, occasionally his coffee when the assistant he’d been assigned was pulled for other duties. And she essentially kept to herself. He couldn’t tell you what about her grabbed his attention.  
She’d delivered a stack of reports, profusely apologizing for their lateness looking unkempt and frazzled. He’d met her eyes for the briefest of moments and he’d been hooked. She smiled, soft and shy and nervous, before hurrying out the door.  
After that, he watched her. He watched her tuck a stray curl behind her ear demurely or play with a loose strand of hair. He wondered if that hair was soft. It had a healthy shine, which only told him that she took care of herself. Or push her glasses up her nose as they slid down. He wondered why she needed them. Near-sighted? Far-sighted? Why didn’t she wear contacts? Absently chew the end of a pen. He noticed that she fidgeted a lot. Did she have a problem with nerves or anxiety?  
Her eyes moved rapidly back and forth as she transcribed reports and eyewitness statements. She often had one or both earbuds in. He wondered what she listened to. He knew Nat was behind him before she spoke.  
“You should just talk to her.”  
“No.”  
“Why not?”  
“She’ll say no.”  
Natasha crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall. “And why’s that?”  
“The ones I want never want me.”  
She shrugged. “That’s far from the truth but I’ll leave it.” She pushed off the wall with her shoulders. “You should too. Ask her out or walk away. Because it’s getting creepy. And if I noticed, someone else is bound to soon.” She patted his shoulder.  
Steve watched her walk away before his attention was drawn back to the girl. She was stretching, bent back over her chair. Her eyes closed in a moment of bliss that can only be achieved by a good stretch. He took in the line of her arched back and thought about it arching for different reasons. His gaze lowered to her pushed out chest and the hard nipples that strained against her top. She sat forward and he found himself looking right at her. They were both surprised. In that moment, she turned away and blushed. Steve should have. He shouldn’t have been staring at her. Romanov was right.  
When she looked up to see if he was still there, he’d gone. She looked around. No one seemed to acknowledge that the hero had ever been there. Maybe she hadn’t seen him. Maybe her thoughts had betrayed her and she’d imagined him staring at her. She ducked her head and got back to work. She needed a few days away from this place and a three day weekend would be perfect.

She stepped onto the elevator, ready for three days away from heroes and villains and impossibilities. She sighed and leaned back against the back wall of the elevator as the doors began to close. The elevator doors made a sound as they encountered something in the track then she felt the car dip with the person’s weight. The elevator doors sighed closed. A throat cleared to get her attention after a few silent floors dinged by.  
She opened her eyes to find Captain Rogers looking at her curiously. “Afternoon, Captain.” She straightened up.  
“Afternoon. I wanted to apologize for staring earlier.”  
She shook her head, blushing. She ducked her head and tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s alright. It’s not like you were being a creep about it.” She shrugged but couldn’t meet his eyes. He’d always been nothing but polite and gentlemanly when she’d seen him around, unless he was giving mission orders. And then… She failed in suppressing a shudder of titillation that made her nipples harden under her blouse.  
Steve swallowed. “I was wondering...What I mean to say is-” She waited as he struggled with himself. “Would you like to go to dinner Friday?”  
Her belly flipped like the elevator had become a roller coaster and she wasn’t strapped in then dropped to her feet. She remained silent for a moment then scrunched up her face in almost pain. “I can’t.”  
“Oh...ok.” His open body language closed. He turned away.  
“I’m sorry, Captain Rogers. I already have plans.”  
“It’s fine.”  
“Maybe another day?” She couldn’t hide the hopeful, trembling lilt in her voice. She’d just rejected the hottest man she’d ever known.  
“Sure.” He offered her a strained smile over his shoulder. The elevator doors opened and Steve was gone before she could say anything else.

Monday mornings were the hardest. There was so much to catch up on after a regular weekend but she’d taken Friday off as well. So now she had more work to do. She popped her ear bud into her ear and dropped her bag in the desk drawer. She stood, looking around the vast open room as she twisted her hair up into a ponytail. She saw Steve talking to Agent Romanoff. She smiled nervously and waved. She thought she saw his lips quirk up and he nodded barely.  
She swallowed, her smile falling at the corners as she turned away. She headed to the canteen/break area and poured herself a big cup of coffee. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she’d forgotten to eat breakfast. Maybe she had something stashed in her desk. Her mind was half paying attention, half going through what she had in her desk when something bumped her arm. Her grip on the cup slipped in a drop of coffee and the cup shattered on the floor.  
By the time she cleaned up the mess, she was already behind in work and now the coffee pot was empty and the damn pot wouldn’t work. She grumbled to herself as she headed back to her desk, grumpy and defeated. She dropped into her chair and flipped open the first file, eyes scanning over as she opened the encrypted software she needed. She thumbed up her work playlist and got down to work. She missed the soft knock on the edge of her cubicle.  
She startled as large hands set down a steaming to go cup of coffee and a danish. Steve smiled down at her doe-eyed expression then squeezed her shoulder, warm and firm and comforting. She didn’t have a chance to respond before he slipped out of the cubicle opening. She looked at the coffee and danish then back out the way he’d come. What the hell? She took a cautious sip. It was perfect. A rich, creamy and sweet hazelnut latte. Her favorite. And the danish, still warm to the touch, was her favorite as well. Cream cheese. And so flaky. She practically moaned around the mouthful. She would have to thank him next time she saw him.  
She wouldn’t see him again to thank him for a while. The same coffee and danish would be sitting on her desk every day though. And it made her smile, every day. Each sip and each bite she would add to the thanks she owed Steve.  
Then the flowers started. Every Friday afternoon. Three roses, one red, one blush pink and one peppermint, would arrive shortly after lunch time. There was no card but she could only assume it was Steve. I mean, who else could it be? Who else would WANT to send her flowers? She found him creeping into her thoughts more than he was already. Her schoolgirl crush became...more. Was she falling in love?  
She was ruminating those thoughts the next time she saw him. When he saved her life. She had been distracted. She was in pain, a migraine that split her head open and made her so nauseous she begged off the rest of the day to go home early.  
She leaned against the wall, trying to distract herself from the overwhelming pain with thoughts of the blue-eyed All-American boy. The alarm blared just before the mortar shell hit the building. The floor she stood on, that was once the ceiling for the floor below bucked then collapsed. Glass rained down, prismatic crystals caught in the light. She didn’t have a chance to scream before she slid down the slick tiled surface. She was airborne for a moment before a large hand grabbed her wrist.  
Steve’s handsome face filled her vision. He smiled but it faltered as the floor did. She tried to smile, but she had to fight the scream welling up. The floor gave way. Steve yanked. She felt something pop in her shoulder and blinding pain. Her feet kicked in the air. The scream she didn’t know she’d started abruptly stopped when she hit solid floor and the air was forced from her lungs.  
Those lungs burned and screamed for oxygen and when she finally filled her lungs, she shrieked in unbelievable pain. Her nausea crested and she rolled over and vomited onto the expensive tile. She thought she heard someone calling her name before she blacked out.

Her alarm sounded different. She reached for it but her shoulder protested with a spasm of pain. She reached for it with the other hand only to come up short with a burning in the back of her hand. Her eyes opened finally. She didn’t recognize the room but she knew a hospital when she saw it. It came back to her. The migraine. The mortar hitting the building. She thought she was going to die but then Steve was there. Steve saved her life. Then pain. She’d been so overwhelmed with pain that she vomited and passed out.  
“Someone’s finally awake.” She looked up at the nurse as she breezed in the room and shut off the alarm on the monitor. “How you feeling?”  
“Like I’ve been run over.”  
The nurse frowned. “I thought you were only in here for a dislocated shoulder and broken wrist.” She tapped a few spots on the monitors. “Oh, a cracked ribs and two bruised ones. Plus the shoulder and wrist.”  
“Sorry about that.” They looked up at Steve standing in the doorway. He sheepishly smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. The bouquet of flowers he’d brought lowered toward the floor.  
“Better than being dead.” She shrugged then winced and whined.  
“Hit the trigger, honey.”  
“Trigger?”  
The nurse held up a little remote device. “This little button will give you a shot of pain meds. There’s a block on it though so you don’t accidentally overdose on us.” She handed it towards her. “Go ahead. They’re probably wearing off and you’re gonna be in a whole heap of pain.”  
She took it and glanced at Steve, who nodded. She wasn’t sure why having his acceptance and permission? appealed to her. Comforted her even. She hit the trigger. The little machine next to her that held her IV bags clicked and growled softly. A clear liquid dripped from one bag into the fluid in her line.  
“Give it a few minutes and you’ll be feeling good.” The nurse checked her vitals and her pupillary response, as well as the bandages on her chest and her shoulder. Steve stood by silently and watched. “I’ll leave you two alone.”  
They started talking at once. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”  
“-thank you.”  
They both spoke again. “What?”  
Steve laughed. “I’m sorry. That I hurt you. That you’re in here.”  
“Are you kidding?”  
“No?” He looked confused.  
“Yes, I got hurt. But Steve-” She reached out for his hand with the wrist in the cast and he gave it willingly without a second thought. She squeezed as best she could the hand that saved her life. “You saved my life. Thank you. And thank you for weeks of my favorite coffee and breakfast pastry. And the roses.”  
He chuckled. “It was nothing.”  
“Don’t be so humble, Captain Rogers.”  
“Call me Steve, doll.” Her belly fluttered at the tone in his voice and the look in his eyes. He moved closer to the bed, towering over her. She felt and looked small and broken in the hospital bed. He leaned down, his lips hovering close to hers. The monitor next to them alarmed, making her startle. She laughed nervously, not realizing she’d been holding her breath. He silenced the alarm without looking. He smiled. “I’d really like to kiss you now.”  
She swallowed, her voice softer and more breathy than she expected. “I’d really like it if you kissed me now.” He moved forward with a firm press of lips. She sighed, parting her lips. He parted his and breathed her in. Reaching up, he gently held her face, caressing his thumb across her cheek. He pulled away from her, breaking the kiss. Her lips chased after his. She whined when she couldn’t reach him. He shushed her which caused her to pout. He smiled in response.  
He kissed her forehead. “You need your rest. Then more kisses.”  
“Will you stay?” She looked up at him hopefully. “We could have that dinner?”  
Steve smiled and it was almost wolfish. “Of course, doll.” He pulled the only chair in the room close to the bed. He leaned back in the seat as she settled back down. Her eyelids drooped as the pain meds began to take effect. Steve was nothing if not patient. He was nothing if not a gentleman. And ‘a gentleman is simply a patient wolf.’


End file.
